Magdalens lovely embroidery - more patches for the "We have Dragons" guild project :)

Magdalen has finished a beautiful patch for the "We have Dragons" guild project :) ...at the small picture on the right you get a small glimpse at the beginning of the embroidery but for the lovely final result please visit her blog: Vanhanaikaiset ...and here a direct link to her posting about this patch:

"Maaliskuun lohikäärme. The dragon of March"

Please don't worry, the posting is in Finnish and English - if you want to read the English text, just look out for the italic text sections :)

She used Split Stitch and also tried Bayeux-Stitch / Refilsaum for the very first time and I think she has done a really great job! Very beautiful embroidery and very nice color combination... a very lovely patch! :)

PS: if you would like to see a posting about your patches for the guild project or join the workshop and post about it yourself - please contact me at: ego_@_racaire.at (without the "_"!) :)

more pictures of Ida Juhanantytär lovely embroidery - patches for the "We have Dragons" guild project :)

Ida Juhanantytär was very kind and sent me some nice photos of her embroidery progress for the "We have Dragons" project - I am very glad that I may share them with you :)
...btw. you can find photos with more progress at the "Aarnimetsän kirjontakor", the blog of the local guild in Aarnimetsä (Finnland) -> posting "Ida Juhantytär ja hänen lohikäärmeens" ...and Ida also has an blog which can be found here: http://harharetket.blogspot.com :)





Ida was inspired by the "Opus Anglicanum" class of Lady Petronillas hold at the Aarnimetsä Academy event and her new favourite technique is "Split Stitch" - I think her embroidery shows how much she loves the new technique and it looks really great! :)

Black Dragon Guard Embroidery

I have just finished my latest project. This one was for a friend.

More information in my own blog.

Silver Guard token

My first try at Silver Guard. It became pretty, but propably too big to be practical. I like the dragon though, those silver details make it look so professional.

More information on my blog.

Update...

Well, it has been quite a while since I last wrote. I believe it was the summer. At that point I was looking for yellow cool to make myself a heraldic cloak. After Civil Wars in 2008, a cold night at Pennsic this past summer and freezing at Fall Crown, I decided I needed to speed up the search. I finally settled on a lovely light yellow wool. I had been debating for a bit, as it's not 100%, but only 95% wool. The other 5% is rayon or some other synthetic. Grrr... But as it was the perfect shade and the best wool I could find, I gave in and bought it. Now the cloak is made and I need to add my heraldic devices to it.

Here's the problem. I've decided to diaper the cloak with my badge. Ummm... I need a badge. I have a device registered. I will try to register some type of badge with a St. Catherine's Wheel as the focal point. It will probably have an "H" on it or something else simple. Then comes the question of embroidering badges and applique them to the cloak, or just cut them out of fabric and applique them. Well, it's a moot point until I get the badge registered. So for the next few months, I shall have a very plain cloak. I've also learned that yellow is REALLY not my colour. Why did I pick it for my arms? Oh yes, because yellow goes so well with blue, which is my favourite colour, which I also look horrid in. Oh well. :-)

I've read her Majesty's request for Kingdom awards and largess. I am happy to help with this project and have taken on Panaches. So far I have made three. After a short period of panic over the size, I was relieved to find out I made them just the right size, at 2cm diameter. YAY! The Panaches continue. Here are the first ones. They are so small, that split stitch works up quite nicely and doesn't take too long. I'll add the feathers when I've stitched up all the squares I pre-cut.

And of course I've stepped up to the task of making some devices for the Kingdom Wall Hanging. I shall be embroidering Knight's Crossing and Vielburgen. I'm just waiting for the silk thread to come in. I plan to start the devices within the next month.

Greetings and introduction

Hi all,

My name is Roland, and my girlfriend Karen and I have just moved from New Zealand to the UK. We were both in the SCA in NZ, and have now joined the Shire of Thamesreach. In the SCA we are known as Peregrine Flamstead and Emayn de Whytacre. We went to the Drachenwald midwinter coronation in Germany earlier this month, and had a great time meeting the wonderful people of this kingdom. Jahanara invited us to join this blog, so that we can see the brilliant work being done in this kingdom, and to also share our own projects.

I am currently working on a 14thC embroidered hat. While I have done some simple embroidery before, mainly stem-stitch, applique and simple wool couching, I have never done split-stitch. So this project is my first foray into split-stitch. I have a felt hat blank, which I will be covering in fabric. The split-stitch embroidery will be around the lower rim of the hat. It is being done with silk thread from the excellent handweavers studio here in London. The fabric is a medium weight silk tabby, with a light linen backing. All of the embroidery has been done with a hand made brass needle that I made myself. The upper part of the hat will be covered in a red silk velvet, scattered with pearls.

I have now completed almost all of the embroidery. The next stage will involve couching gold thread onto the design. While Karen has used gold thread before numerous times, it has only ever been the 'fake' gold thread (Japan Thread). As this project will use very little gold thread, I am considering using 'real' gold thread. And so my question to the expertise of the group, is if anybody knows where to source real gold thread from? I have looked around a bit on the internet, but to no avail. I have heard several people say it is available from somewhere. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.

I have attached a few photos of the current state of my embroidery. As you can see, it is not finished yet! All of the animals and birds have been taken directly out of the 'Romance of Alexander', a 14thC illuminated manuscript. The gold thread will be used as the interconnecting vines, that can be seen in pencil. At Jahanara's request, I have also included a few pictures of Karen's work. The sleeves are from a dress she made a few years ago. They are embroidered with silk split-stitch, gold couching and pearls. The design of the embroidery was inspired by the background pattern of Geoffrey Luttrell's shield in the Luttrell Psalter. The completed pouch she just finished recently, and the in-progress project is an embroidered pouch done in the style of a 14thC 'lovers pouch'. All of her projects shown are silk thread on silk fabric. The two pouches have been done with brass needles.

And in case anyone is interested, I have a gallery and documentation of my other work here. We really look forward to being involved in the A&S community here and hope to see you all at some stage!

Cheers,

Roland

Greetings and Introduction...

Greetings. I have been with the SCA and Drachenwald for about 2 years now. Before the SCA I mainly did cross-stitch. Now I am enjoying learning new stitches and techniques that are Medieval.

Currently I have the split stitch down pretty well and I'm learning the basic laid couching. The latter I learned to work on Princess Fiona's roundels. The split stitch I learned to make a household badge for my Knight, Sir Gerhardt and then a badge for my friend, Lady Sapphira who is now in Mesopotamia. These badges are my best work to date. I plan to make some more household badges for Sir Gerhardt for all us members and also some PCS awards for the Kingdom. Much smaller than what I've done thus far. These took me too long to mass produce. I finished their borders with a fingerloop braid. It just seemed right and I have since seen other people do the same, so I just need to find documentation now.


I will post a photo of what I've done with Princess Fiona's roundels after I finish another one. I already gave her a few. It's rather embarrassing after seeing Racaire's roundels, to even admit I did any. :-)

Himiltrude